Street-iitdicatob



1. Hmmm AND 1. Tn-AUTNER.

s1 INDICATOR. APPLICAT lLED FEB. 19| l9|8.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- JosEPi-r HonNIK AND .moon TRAUTNEB., or MILwAuirEE, wisconsin.

STREET-INDICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

Application led February 19, 1918. Serial No. 218,083.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, JOSEPH HORNIK and JACOB TRAUTNER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wiscon sin, have invented` certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Indicators; and we do hereby `declare that the following is. a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention relates to new and `useful improvements in indicators for use on street cars and the like, particularly those which are used to successively indicate streets or stations at which the car is to stop.

The principal object of our invention is to improve upon the construction and operation of devices of this character whereby such construction may be simplied, the operation renderedmore efficient, and the cost of the same materially reduced.

An additional object is to provide a simple means for retaining the sign carrying sheet or curtain taut.

A still further object is to provide an arrangement for effectively feeding the flexible sheet or curtain from one carrying roller to the other and back again.

An additional object is to provide means for feeding the liexible sheet or curtain step by ystep from one carrying roller to the other.

With these and other objects in View the invention resides in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed and shown in the drawings, wherein: i i

Figure 1 represents a vertical longitudinal sectional view 'taken substantially on the plane of the line 1--1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view ofour invention, and p Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. A

In the preferred embodiment of `our invention the flexible sheet or curtainl on which the street or station names are painted or stamped is inclosed in a sheet metal casing 2 having a horizontally elongated opening 3 in its front wall through which street or station names are visible, said opening preferably being closed by means of a transparent panel 4 of glass or the like. Arranged withinthe casing 2 so that the flexible sheet 1 is disposed between it and the opening 3 is an electric light bulb or other sourceof illumination 5.

The end walls of the casing 2 carry bearings a for` a pair of spaced superimposed .shafts 6 and 7, one end of the shaft 6 being extended beyond the adjacent end of the casing as at 6, said shafts each having a roller` loosely mounted thereon, theroller carried by the shaft 6 being designated by the numeral 8 and that on the shaft 7 by the numeral 9. The flexible name carrying sheet lis adapted to have its opposite end portions wound around these rollers as shown in Fig. 2, said sheet being also trained about a rubber faced feed roll 10 mounted on `a shaft 11 whichalsoprojects through one endm wall ofthe casing, and an idle roller `12. If necessary an additional idle roller 13 may be employed.

Although eachof the rollers 8 and 9 are free to move independently of its support ing shaft, the same are preferably connected thereto by coiled springs 14C. As shown in Fig.1 each of these springs surrounds one oftheshafts and has `one end secured thereto, the opposite end being connected to the adjacent roller. The shafts 6 and 7 are in turn :connected so that they are rotated in unison by means of a pair of spur gears 15 `and 16, the teeth of which are continually enmeshed. l

As hereinbefore mentioned the name carrying sheet is fed from one roller Sor 9 to the other by means of the feed roll 10. The latter is revolved by the rotation of a gear 17 loosely mounted on the portion 6 of the shaft 6 and a pinion 18 keyed to thel projecting end of the shaft 11. This gear 171 and the pinion 18 `are preferably disposed upon `the outer side of the casing 2 while the parts hereinbefore described are all inclosed therein.

`The gear 17 is rotated in eitherdirection and in step bystep motionby the operation of a bell crank lever `19, which is also loosely l mounted on the portion 6 of said shaft 6.

One arm of the bell crank carries a pawl 20,

the end of `which engages any one of the series ofstops 21carried by thegear 17. From Fig. 2 it will be noted that this Vpawl may be swung to either one of two positions wherebyit mayengage either `"side of "the stops^21 to thus intermittently rotate the gear 17 in either direction. The bell crank 1s obviously rocked by the reciprocation of a pull rod 22 one end of which is pivoted to one `of theA bell crank ivhile its other end portion is cylindrically reduced and slidably Idisposed in a stationary guide'23`.

An expansion coiledspring 24 surrounding the reduced portion has one end engaged .f turnv it tothe position shown rn said ligure ter-thereby rotate the: gear 17 iny a counter- .clockwisedirection. When the pavvl is swung; to thedotted line position shown in Figs-2 f it Will bev obvious that the gear Will bel rotated'in. aclockvvise direction and that one`'of';tlie stops Will bezengaged upon the dov'vnvvardmoveinent'of the rod, the spring 24:A being merely used to return the partsv to their inoperative positions. A detent 25 carried bythe rodi 22 engages between certainof the teethi 'of'A the gear 17' when the parts are in their :inactive positions to thus prevent the saine from. accidental mrovernent. :1.\.'l`h'e: operation ofthe invention is substantially as follows :r `After Vthe flexible sheet 1 has had its opposite ends connected torandefwoundupon the rollers 8 and 9, the Ytension of the springs 14, both of which are coiledin the same-` direetion, may be increasedby revolving the shaft 6 in a clock- Wisedirection, thev shaft 7 being rotated simultaneously therewith and. to the same extent owing to' the gear Wheels 15 and 16. The-feed roll 10:v may vnovv be revolved step byv step: by :pulling upon the rod 22 as hereinbefore mentioned- Assuming that the flexible sheet 1 is to be Wound off of the roller Si anden to the roller 9, it will be seen that atpractically no ktime during this movement Willf. the rollers be moving the: same amount ovving'to-.the1-dilferences in number of thick nesses of the sheet which is Wound thereon.

-Thus When, the roller 9 is just beginning to receive the sheetI .iti will4 move at'. a greater rate ofspeed .than the other roller 8, Where'- k 'as When the last mentioned roller has been ynearly emptied it vvill V-revoli'zeat a higher i :varyingfvif it were' not for theV fact that the shaftsy 6 andV 7 arey connected together and must revolve at theI same rate of speed.

'This connection therefore compensates for the 'differences in the amount of movement v 4oit thenrollers 8 and 9 and retains the tension 'ofthe springs s'o-nearly constant that under Copies otjthiispatent may tbe.y obtained for State of Wisconsin.

no conditions will there be any slackin the flexible sheet 1, but on the other hand the end portions of said sheet will be tightly Wound on said rollers.

When the flexible sheet is to be Wound from the roller 9 on to the roller 8, as for instance When the car reaches the end of its trip, the pawl is vshifted to the side of its arm of the bell crank 19 opposite to that to WhichV it formerly projected. The flexible.- sheet may bequickly Wound from one roller to the other Without .the use of the step by step mechanism by revolving the gear 17 by a socket Wrench 26 Which is disposed over the hub'27 of said gear.

Various' minor changes may be made in the form and proportion of the several parts of our invention Without departing from the principles thereof. In other Words although the vdevice illustrated is adapted to be placed on the inside of a street car or the like and actuatedby pulling upon the rod 20, it is obvious that the same might be slightly changed and disposed upon the outerV sidefof a car as a destination indicator.

We clairnz-A 1. An indicator of the class described including a pair of shafts, inter-meshing gears on said shafts, a pair of rollers, a spring connecting each. roller and a corresponding shaft, a feed roller at one side of one of the first named. rollers, a shaft for said feed roller, means for procuring step rotation of `the. feed roller shaft, a web Wound about the first named roller adjacent the feed rol-:ler and extended from the inner portion of the roller at its side adjacent the feed roller and trained about the feed roller and then' trained about the other first named roller,l meeting said roller at its outer portion.

2. An indicator of the class described in cluding a pair of rollers, a drive roller, a web .Wound on the first named rollers and trained about the drive roller, a shaft for the drive roller,.` a pinion on the` shaft, a loosely mounted gear wheel meshing with the pinion, ratchet stops on the peripheral portion o-f the pinion, a movable pawl successively engageable with said stops to procure successive step rotations of the gear -Wheel, and means for moving said pawl.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing We -have hereunto set our hands at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and

JOSEPH HORNIK. J ACOB- TRAUTNER.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, ,Washington D. C. 

